Richard Dawkins - Creativity and Science
Richard Dawkins (1941- )
English scientist (pictured right).
Outspoken atheist and passionate supporter of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
His most famous books
are...
The Selfish Gene (1976)
The God Delusion (2006).
What does he say?
1. Evolution is a fact
The evidence totally supports Charles
Darwin’s (pictured right) theory of evolution.
This says that all living creatures (including humans) evolved through natural
selection (in which the creatures that survive are the ones that best adapt to their
environment).
Dawkins calls this “adaptive evolution” and strongly
attacks creationists who
- support the creation story in the Book of Genesis.
- believe that Adam and Eve (and so the human race) were created without evolution.
2. Memes and selfish genes
The drive for survival (inherent in natural selection and evolution) is in our genes
– thus the title of his best-seller, The Selfish Gene.
Being born selfish, doesn't mean we have to be selfish.
We can learn the importance of generosity and self-sacrifice through “memes”.
Memes are cultural phenomena (like ethical and religious beliefs) that lead to
cultural evolution by gradually changing as they pass from one person to another.
3. Good without God
Dawkins is a humanist, believing that people have the:
- right to be treated with dignity and kindness.
- responsibility to treat others the same.
In his best-seller, The God Delusion, he totally rejects God and
religion, attacking them for:
- inciting evil (e.g. 9/11 and Jewish persecution).
- propagating untruths without evidence (e.g. the Biblical creation story).
- dogmatism (from narrow-minded and bigoted obedience to what God says in holy books
like the Bible and Qur'an).
Dawkins:
- challenges the authenticity of the Bible
- says it is riddled with inconsistencies (like the cruel God of the Old Testament
contradicting Jesus’s
compassion).
Key quotes on
society
We are survival machines – robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as
genes.
Natural selection...has no mind...no vision, no foresight, no sight at all...it is the blind watchmaker.
Key quotes on
religion
Religion is about turning untested belief into unshakeable truth.
Being an atheist...is something to be proud of.
I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world.
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